An appointment/appointment
Zhao Shixiu in the Southern Song Dynasty
Mei Huang Shi, every family was flooded by rain, and the pond was covered with green grass and frogs.
It's past midnight, and the invited guests haven't come yet. I tapped the chess pieces bored and shook the wick of an oil lamp.
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translate
Mei Huangshi, everyone was flooded by the rain, and there were bursts of frogs on the edge of the grassy pond.
It's past midnight and the invited guests haven't come yet. When I lit the oil lamp, I beat the chess piece bored and broke the knot on the wick.
Being in contact with someone for a long time will inevitably lead to anxiety. This is probably an experience that everyone will have. It is difficult to write interesting poems. However, this little poem by Zhao Shixiu is just like this emotion, but it is very profound and has a rich aftertaste.
"It rains at home in Huangmei season, and frogs are everywhere in the grass pond." The first two sentences of the poem describe the scenery and a picture of summer rain in the south of the Yangtze River. In the rainy season, the rain is continuous, the pond is rising, the frogs are constantly screaming, and the rural scenery is so fresh, quiet, harmonious and wonderful. However, "all scenery words are sentimental words", and the poet here is not writing scenery for the sake of writing scenery, but has entrusted his complicated thoughts and feelings of being alone in the scenery. Rain in Every Family not only depicts the ubiquity and sudden intensity of plum rains in summer, but also shows the freshness and tranquility of rural scenery, and implies the objective reasons why guests can't keep appointments as scheduled, revealing the poet's helplessness in the rainy weather of plum rains. Frogs Everywhere not only describes the bursts of frogs in the pond, but also sets off the silence with sound, which sets off the quiet and harmonious atmosphere in the countryside during the rainy night and reflects the poet's lonely and uneasy mood. These two poems vividly and truly show the poet's unique psychological feeling that the guests never appear when he is alone waiting for them in the dead of night. Throughout the country, continuous showers, one after another, and endless frogs and drums were originally very harmonious and wonderful, but what is annoying is that this continuous rain prevented friends from keeping their promises, like frogs and drums, which disturbed the poet's mood. At this moment, the poet hopes that his friends can come as scheduled, rain or shine, and play chess with him.
"I can't make an appointment at midnight" makes the title of the poem clear, and also makes the description of scenery and sound in the above two sentences very in place. I had an appointment with a guest, but no one came after midnight. There is no doubt that the constant night rain prevented my friends from keeping the appointment. Sleepless at night shows that the poet has been waiting for a long time and is full of hope. At this point, the situation of unexpected guests seems to have been finished, but a small note at the end of the sentence makes the poem colorful.
"Knocking on chess pieces and landing on snuff" is only a small dynamic of the poet, but in this dynamic, it describes the poet's anxiety and expectation in detail. Because you can't play chess by yourself, you can say "knock on the chess pieces". Chess pieces are not for knocking, but for knocking, reflecting the anguish in loneliness; The word "leisure" expresses boredom, and behind this word, the poet's disappointment and anxiety are implied.
When people are lonely and anxious, they often subconsciously make a monotonous and mechanical action, such as deliberately making a noise to break the silence and dilute their worries. The poet's "knocking chess pieces" here is just such an action. "Falling into Snuff" is of course caused by playing chess, but it also euphemistically shows the situation that the wick burns for a long time and the guests wait for a long time, and the image of the poet's frustration is vividly on the paper. This detail of playing chess contains multiple meanings, including near and far, and has charm. This shows the importance of capturing typical details in artistic creation.
Another obvious feature of this poem is the use of contrast. The first two sentences about outdoor "it rains at home" and "frogs are everywhere" are as loud as two sermons. The last two sentences are written about sitting indoors, playing chess, being silent and bored, which is in sharp contrast with the previous ones. Through this contrast, the poet expressed his feelings of loneliness and disappointment more deeply. Therefore, although Zhao Shixiu and other "Four Spirits" poets appeared with indifferent and fresh faces, they actually had a lot of painstaking efforts.